Likes wolves – Thrown out of hunting party

Extended the Wolf Hunt wolvesWolves, Photo: Pixabay.com

Ingunn is a supporter of wolves – banned from the hunting party

The head of the local hunting party that Ingunn Faldaas belongs to has stated that she is disallowed from participating in this autumn’s moose hunt. The reason is apparently that she is opposed to killing of wolves.

 

I’ve lost all pleasure in hunting. I have hunted moose every year since 2008, and that has meant a lot to me, says Faldaas to VG.

She was notified of the exclusion in June through a text message from the hunting leader:

– It’s no easy decision. You can think what you want about wolves… but I do not think you completely understand the wolf’s position and influence here were we live. Frustration has peaked and worsened with this year’s pups. It will therefore be impossible to hunt with you from now on, says Faldaas.

– I think it’s very sad. After all, we have a common hunting pleasure. It is very sad that predator policy at a higher level deteriorates into attacks on individuals. One can not take revenge on individuals even if you are annoyed with politicians, says Faldaas.

It was Østlendingen who first reported on the matter concerning the hunting team.

City dweller in the countryside

Faldaas grew up in Trysil, but has lived for the past 20 years in Stavanger and has saved up a week of holiday every year to come home to participate in the moose hunt.

The others live in Trysil and know each other better than they know me, but this was very surprising. These people have taught me to hunt.

The hunting team in Trysil used to consist of nine people at its peak, but in recent years they have dwindled down to being only three. It was last year that the hunting team for the first time had a conversation about the wolf issue.

We had a discussion about wolves. Then they said I’m a city dweller who does not know how the wolf affects life in the countryside. The conversation lasted only a few minutes because I did not want to start a quarrel, says Faldaas.

Asked the mayor for help

Moose, Photo: Pixabay.com

After she was told that she was excluded from the hunting team, she wrote a letter to Trysil’s mayor, Erik Sletten, where she expressed the following:

– I am very disappointed and sorry that many years of fun regarding hunting ends like that, just because I have a different opinion than the rest of the hunting party. Where did freedom of expression go? Is it right that opponents should be gagged, either by being frozen out of hunting and your hunting party, or does one have to compromise themselves, get in line with the bunch to be allowed to participate in the hunt? Østlendingen renders.

Sletten does not wish to comment on this case in particular, but says to Østlendingen that on a general basis he believes it is wrong to exclude members from groups or associations due to differences of opinion.

Hunting team leader Frank Rønningen tells VG that he does not want to comment on the matter. To Øslendingen he states the following:

This is a personal matter between Ingunn and me.

The wolf is a wonderful animal

The Faldaas family is one of the landowners where the team has hunted moose. The mother of the excluded woman has also been in contact with the hunting team leader.

– She has been talking to them for then you can not just throw out a forest owner. They have come with quite strong statements and arguments for why I’m excluded. My mother has said that nothing of what he has expressed has anything to do with me as a person. It’s as if I’ve been given the blame for that wolves exist in Trysil, tells Faldaas.

Moreover, she wants to stress that if a wolf does a lot of damage, she is of the opinion that it should be taken out.

I think the wolf is a wonderfully beautiful animal. It is entitled to be a part of the Norwegian fauna. We must teach ourselves to live with the wolf and other predators. But it’s not like I’ve been on the barricades for the wolf. I’m not against that some pests are taken out, says Faldaas to VG.

 

© VG / Norway Today